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Newsletter : 2fax0627.txt
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Israel's Astronaut in Holding Pattern
By IsraelNationalNews.com
Israel's first astronaut, Col. Elon Ramon, will not be taking off on July 19 as planned. NASA Space Agency officials found faults in gas lines to shuttle craft and have decided to place the mission on hold.
Bush: Israel Can Defend Herself
By IsraelNationalNews.com
While the White House attempts to play down the pro-Israeli aspects of President George Bush's speech, Bush himself continued to make remarks sympathetic to Israel. He was asked, upon his arrival in Canada for the G-8 summit, about Israel's anti-terrorism offensive in Hebron, and said, "Everyone has the right to defend themselves..."
How will this right be exercised in Gaza? Israeli towns in Gaza find themselves under mortar barrage, with at least four shells fired on one Jewish community Wednesday morning, and a lone shell on another Jewish town Tuesday night. Property damage was caused, but no casualties.
Arab forces fired at two outposts near Netzarim as well. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that he would not "entangle our forces in Gaza, but we will act to strike major blow to Hamas headquarters there." He said that whoever thinks we should return to Gaza, "doesn't understand. I know Gaza better than anyone else, and we don't have to be there. But whoever thinks that Hamas should be there, is also mistaken."
Knesset member Tzvi Hendel, a resident of Gush Katif, disagreed that the IDF need not take over Gaza:
"Yes, Sharon was a commander in Gaza, and he certainly took care of the problems - but he was younger then by a few decades. And he was the real Arik Sharon then, not someone who has to find ways to bridge between [government ministers] Shimon Peres and Effie Eitam."
"Do you mean that Sharon's statement was only politics?" Hendel was asked. "Most definitely!" he responded. "To liquidate terrorism, we must begin in Gaza, not end there. The main terrorist nests are there, and they must all be uprooted at the source... (Wednesday), a television poll showed the healthy attitude of the people. The question was, 'Do you support a long-range entry into Gaza?' - and even though it emphasized 'long-range,' almost 70% of the people answered yes.' There is no more room for games. Even Bush just gave us a green light - so what are we waiting for?"
Arafat to Run in Palestinian Elections in January
By VOA News
A senior Palestinian spokesman said Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat will again seek the presidency of the Palestinian Authority in general elections set for next January. Cabinet Minister Nabil Shaath said Arafat will run, despite U.S. calls for new Palestinian leadership.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said earlier Wednesday that elections for president and the legislative council will take place between January 10 and 20.
In a policy speech Monday, President Bush called for changes in the Palestinian leadership and democratic reforms as conditions for a provisional Palestinian state. U.S. media reported that the president called for the changes after receiving intelligence information showing Arafat's Palestinian Authority has helped finance the terrorist al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide attacks on Israeli civilians.
The reports say Arafat authorized a $20,000 payment to the group, which is an offshoot of the Palestinian leader's Fatah Movement. The reports did not say when the payment was allegedly made. Palestinian officials dismissed the documents as Israeli forgeries - a claim Israel denied.
Arafat has not commented publicly on the latest developments. He remains isolated in his Ramallah headquarters, surrounded by Israeli tanks and troops. Earlier this year, Israel said it had found two documents signed by Arafat authorizing payments to known terrorists. A spokesman for Israeli intelligence said the documents, which were allegedly in Arafat's handwriting, were found by soldiers who took over his compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah in April.
PA calls Rice: 'Colored,' 'Dark,''Black Lady' & 'Pitiful'
By Itamar Marcus
Palestinian Authority verbal attacks on the United States are returning to the frequency and style common before the Sept. 11 attacks, including personal insults and demonizing of the U.S.
One target this week of personal attack was Condoleezza Rice. The writer in the official PA daily uses her race as the vehicle to launch what he obviously intends to be personal insults. Though familiar with the term African-American [used in the article] he uses the terms "Colored," "Dark," and "the Black Lady," as part of his attempt to ridicule and insult Rice.
In two articles this week the U.S. was maligned for its killing of the "Indians" and "stealing their land." Personal insults of U.S. Administration leaders, writers, and lawmakers as well as attacks on the essence of the U.S. were common as PA expression of political ideology in the years prior to Sept.11, 2001. After a short period of less offensive press, the PA has now returned to its previous open expression of anathema toward the United States, presenting the U.S. to its people as an enemy of Arabs and of Islam, and having been created as a nation in sin.
The following is an excerpt from one of this week's articles:
"My enthusiasm for George Bush increased after he entered the White House and chose to appoint to his administration two people from among the colored, a first in the history of American administrations: Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. We said then, both in private and in public, that these colored senior officials are a part of the Third World, even if only due to the color of their skin.
"But what happened after that was embarrassing and astonishing, especially what happened with the dark complexioned lady, or, more accurately: black, the National Security Advisor ... What compounds the astonishment is that the Black Lady always makes a point, whether the opportunity presents itself or not, of denouncing the Palestinians to the point where her positions and statements have come to be nearly daily lessons to the American people and the world, causing regret to every Arab who was optimistic about her arrival on the political scene, especially when comparing her stupid positions with Albright's, who, in her day, proved she had a greater sense of international responsibility, and was less aggressive than this pitiful woman who has dealt a blow to the image of the African-American in the eyes of the vast majority of the world's inhabitants."
[Dr. Abd Al Aziz Al Maqaleh, Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 23, 2002]
